Share:

Employers: Students can't tell you apart!

That's the title of a recent article that caught my attention, written by Melissa Murray Bailey, President, Americas, Universum. Melissa joined Universum in 2012 to lead the business across the US, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.

"Companies that are able to communicate a message that conveys what it would really be like to work there day-to-day are the ones that will stand out and attract the best talent. Unfortunately, this is difficult to do. In fact, more than half of companies surveyed in Universum's Talent Attraction Barometer listed "differentiation" as their top employer branding challenge." Melissa Murray Bailey

Universum is the global leader in employer branding strategy. Based on their annual market research of over half a million students and professionals around the world, the company supports employers as a strategic partner to develop and communicate effective employer brands to attract the right talent.

Questions Peter Clayton asks Melissa in this Podcast:

As you point out in your article differentiation is a huge challenge for many employers. Give us some context.

You tell a story in your article about working for a company where the average age of the employees was under 30 - and the head of HR instituted a new retirement program.

You talk about competitive comp and benefits as being a "threshold offering" - yet almost every job ad you read states "we offer a competitive salary and benefits package." So those are really empty words because students expect that.

You recommend that employers invest time and resources to research what the ideal candidate wants - similar to the research they conduct regarding their customers.

So part of the problem is that companies are all reading the same research regarding what millennials want and that leads to all of this cookie cutter brand messaging.

Can you give us a couple of examples where companies have successfully communicated a unique brand message to students?

Here's one statistic that jumped out - students are considering an average of 20 companies when thinking about their future careers.

An important point you make... Popular companies have no problem attracting students and their resumes- however it leads to problems with engagement, productivity and retention down the line - not to mention - WAY TOO MANY APPLICATIONS!

About Peter Clayton

Peter Clayton, Producer/Host, is an award-winning producer/director of radio, television, documentary, video, interactive and Web-based media who has created breakthrough media for a wide array of Fortune 100 clients.

We use cookies to improve our website and your experience when using it. Cookies used for the essential operation of the site have already been set. To find out more about the cookies we use and how to delete them, see our privacy policy.